Introduction

In this section, we provide an overview of the topics you might consider when planning a farm transfer.

In this presentation, you will find several farm transfer "plans" including the "going to do it someday" plan, "this will all be yours someday" plan, and the "no plan" plan: PowerPoint Presentation: Welcome

When thinking about farm transfer planning, it may help to look at the family farm as a system of three interconnected parts that can operate separately or as one system.

Family

Ownership (the farmland)

Management (the farm business)

When planning a farm transfer, we need to pay attention to each of these pieces (how each will operate) as well as how each affects the other. For example, in some farm transfers, families use a business entity like an LLC to essentially separate Management (the business) from Ownership (the land); here, the senior generation maintains ownership of the farmland, while putting the business into an LLC to transfer units (assets of the business like equipment, livestock and other chattel) to the junior generation.